The Money Is in the Email

Now you can just email cash, free of charge, directly from your debit card to anyone else’s, regardless of what bank each party uses. There’s no login or password to remember and no special software or hardware required -- you just use email.

It works on both ends using any email service or program on any email-capable device, whether a computer, a smartphone or a tablet. This new service, called Square Cash, comes from Square, best known for equipping small brick-and-mortar merchants with smartphone-swiping devices that allow them to accept credit cards, and with tablets that act as sophisticated cash registers. Square Cash permits you to send up to $2,500 a week in several transactions or all at once. At launch, it works only in the US, and with debit cards carrying either the Visa or MasterCard logo. It isn’t meant for buying things from merchants, online or off, only for person-to-person cash transfers.